Ableton Live LOOPING EXPLAINED | Music Production Tutorial

[@norcal6181]

This is the only explanation on all of youtube that I've watched that actually makes sense when it comes to looping on ableton! Thank You!

[@yashwanthnag]

Very ture.

[@oakiron6455]

for real!

[@LEOPORT5]

BUBLES!!!!

[@StephanAinley]

That's what I came to say! I've watched so many that feel like half the story. I was going insane. Thanks!

[@thevoid5117]

Yup

[@NoReason2Liv]

Game changer for me. This explanation of how Live's Looping ACTUALLY works; was so incredibly useful that I changed my workflow immediately to better take advantage of what's right in front of us. Thank You!

[@tomblack4437]

This is the first time I have been to your site. I was browsing to try and find a starting point for this DAW. There are some good instructors out there but many will deviate from topic and it can be very confusing. You are an excellent teacher that stays on topic with no wasted discussions. Thank you for making it simple to understand. Hopefully by the end of the day I will be making loops.

[@jeremiahmolinaro7595]

I'm relearning the basics of Ableton after putting it down for a few years and this really helped me get back up to speed. Thanks for the straightforward video that covers so much about recording clips!

[@343labs]

Great to hear!

[@andre.rascol]

dude amazing video, ive been struggling to learn how to loop live for months now. this video answered every question i had. great job brotha!

[@stakenchill-hexlo-fi4]

My god, every video I watch from you, it opens up a new world in Ableton for me. Just new to this and your videos help me learn and improve so fast. Thanks!!

[@mofopro]

Great job man! Your tone and delivery was on point. Best tutorial on Ableton I’ve come across so far 👍🏽

[@patjurco]

Been trying to figure this out for a week and this is the only video that makes clear sense, thank you!

[@ohmhomie]

Thank you, I’ve been doing live looping for about a year and I’m just learning this. Being able to play into the session is a real game changer for me, I will be incorporating the technique in my live sessions!!

[@343labs]

Great to hear!

[@AnUglyBarnacle]

The latter method you used to record is ideal. Exactly what I was looking for

[@lit2021]

I was about to buy a looper pedal, but this saved me some money 😁 I'll just get a MIDI pedal to trigger session record.

[@manuelni4766]

This is a great Video! THX But my Big problem is I want to loop with my Guitar and I cant figure out a solution to stop my recording automatically for example 2 bars. I saw some people achieving this with the fixed lenght button on their push or push2 but I cant afford a push... Is there please a possibility to do this, like you did, but instead with a midi clip with an Audio clip? I would be soo grateful for an answer! Greetings from Germany.

[@ajritchey]

Manuel nice from everything I’ve looked at, this is only possible on the controller end as you’ve mentioned.

[@acevedodamian]

maybe you can map midi record button to a sustain pedal.... I'll do it that way ( also playing guitar and i dont want to buy a push )

[@yashwanthnag]

Simple do that in audio track clip and mic or line your guitar.

[@GrampassoFilms]

It's incredible that this simple option is not available yet

[@zachninan]

It works only for midi when session record is enabled . There could be some reason ableton does not implement it for audio clips .

[@jcthurston1]

Really clear explanation of Live looping. Can't wait to try this technique out, have been wanting to use Ableton as a live performance looper but not clear on the process. Thanks for the insights!

[@dylanbrianna]

Well explained this is what I'm looking for thanks to you sir, I'm 32 yrs old and somebody said I'm old enough to learn this kind of controller and DAW. I played guitar when I'm young, and last week I purchase my minilab mk2, hopefully it's still not too late for me to learn and compose music. I'm your new subscriber sir. ☺️

[@genesisgutierrez4592]

I also got an mk2! how are you liking it?

[@dylanbrianna]

@@genesisgutierrez4592 hi, at first i experience difficulty on using it but thanks to KZbin, because whatever I want to learn from mk2 KZbin got answers. Now I made variety of Music from mk2 and Im enjoying it.

[@hollowmenrule]

Very cool to see explanation of session view as opposed to track view and looper plugin. The session view is great for individual tracks, but I like the looper and sounds all being put into the loop. I think you can STILL Create a loop with multiple sounds overdubbed and another track by itself synced to the loop with overdubs. That is the difference. When you overdub it is like creating a song. I would tell anyone that is going to use the looper plugin, not what he is doing, to make sure to PAN DIFFERENT SOUNDS so everything isn't piled up in the middle of the loop track

[@343labs]

Thanks, I'm glad you like the tutorial!

[@PollederBoss]

You can set your BPM with the Tap button, and start record like with a Boss loopstation. set one free midi button to Tap and one button to a free clip. That works nice. I`m looking for a midi pedal for that.

[@docwiseup]

Very helpful video! if you're using a keylab 61 mk2 you need to remap the transport record button if you want to session record. click midi map mode in ableton > session record > click record on the keylab > done!

[@343labs]

Good to know!

[@danarrow]

I’m a long time user of ‘traditional’ DAWs which cannot do live looping. I installed Ableton but I was ready to give up until I saw your video. You did a great job explaining how to do it. Thanks very much.

[@343labs]

Glad I could help!

[@ggandthemix]

Brilliant! Watched many videos looking for a comprehensive explanation for looping in a live setting with the Launchkey. This answered all my questions. Thanks for taking the time to make it. Cheers!

[@343labs]

Glad it was helpful!

[@anzatzi]

This was the most clear presentation of all your videos I've watched (many!)

[@JeffCogswell]

Thank you for this! I'm finally learning Ableton Live, and I always thought it was odd they had a looping plugin when the app itself should support live looping. This really helps!

[@343labs]

So great to hear!

Clips are good but when you have too many tracks with vst launched it will use a lot of CPU.. Looper has a lot of advantages and the main reason I use it is that all the VST can be recorded in looper as wav and you are able to record on top of that same info. Even panning or record sends... You can set bar record and then it will play/dub or stop as you wish with (x). You can reverse the loop and all this features are way more useful than clips. The only con would be when changing tempo as the info in looper will repitch. My advice is if you really want to develop the loop, use looper. You will have low CPU and therefore a better flow when performing.

[@MultiMam12345]

Great tutorial. But normal looper will sync just the same and does not sound like a mess if you use it properly A normal looper has global quantize too. And if you add a normal looper to your workflow ( to a send for example) you will even have more creative control. You could Loop a recorded loop and double, half, repitch, reverse, overdub in a single press. So the combination of this workflow and the ‘normal’ looper is a very powerful creation tool for as well building tracks as live jamming. 👍🏻

[@KozmykJ]

This is Ableton workflow Gold. Thank you. I'm presently working Ableton into a parallel operation sync'ed to Studio One (my Main). Clip Launching and some MPE tricks are my primary intention for this added complexity. This video is just what I needed to be able to dive in without having to RTFM every time I get an idea. 🤯💥✨

[@worox94]

Hey, I'm thinking of going studio one or ableton. Studio one seems little bit more intuitive and more advanced and cheap. While ableton seems more fun to improvise and test some ideas out and to sounds design from the fly quickly. What do you think?

[@KozmykJ]

@@worox94 For me Studio One suits my Recording flow better. Ableton I like for it's Clip Lauching and ready access for MPE. S1 does MPE too but it seems easier in Ableton. Horses for courses really.

[@worox94]

@@KozmykJ okey Thank you for your thoughts. Maybe gonna go with S1 and use my Maschine mk3 for the fun part ☺️

[@KozmykJ]

@@worox94 Over the past few months, I bought a couple of controllers, Sensel Morph (Wow!!) and Novation LaunchpadX. Between them I got bundled Lite versions of Ableton and Bitwig. Easily enough to add 'more' clip type fun to the power of Studio One. Add a couple of Whacky Sidechain/Gaters and ... Oh and thanks to tips from Rachel K Colier I grabbed a little AKAI LPD8 as well for some extra knob controllers. Certainly adds dimensions ... 😵 Enjoy your journey 🌍

[@worox94]

@@KozmykJ I got the Ableton lite so yeah, let's get rolling. Thank you! Seems like you got the gear now 😼 happy jamming

[@pontusliljefors1255]

Echoing others here, this is one maybe the only video on this topic that makes sense. Thanks for your clear instructions! A question though, there is also the 'fixed length" looping mode right? Or is that only on the Push 2? I just picked up a Push 2 and I'm trying to figure all of this out.

[@vocalizingdreams]

Dude I don’t know what I would do without your videos. You are amazing!

[@ninjaskoldpadda1005]

Thank you for this clear explanation. As someone starting out with a Launchpad Pro, The record button default is session record. It seems to be the easiest to just select a track hit that and go. But are there any downsides to using that method I may have missed? Compared to record arming a clip in session view?. Thanks again for a great video.

[@justplainjosh]

This is a fantastic explanation. Great work on this!

[@turhangokhan]

Recording an initial empty clip was genius, thanks for the great tip.

[@343labs]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lookingforplaces]

in this video I have found a quick deep explanation of what I didn't found in other youtube video! Many thanx! Great job

[@rubenmendes8090]

still works! followed steps exactly and it works, thx a ton and keep up the awesome videos

[@sezerbaglan1804]

Great! After watching this video, I've made my own loop in a few minutes!

[@Aaronius_Maximus]

This was extremely helpful Taetro thanks so much for all the content you put out. I would have returned my Lauchpad X without ya lol ;)

[@343labs]

You're very welcome!

[@red0ctane19]

So stoked to try ableton out! I've always used FL Studio. Bought my first MIDI with pads, a ton of controls, and ableton that will be here tomorrow. Granted it's only ableton lite. But I'm sure that'll be enough to hook me to buy the full software. 🤣

[@EricRoberts1]

Bro ur a freakin musical genius with an amazing talent for teaching. Thank you!

[@lorendigiorgi]

I love session view. It changed the way I write. It fits my workflow so well, I almost think Ableton created this software just for me :D

[@alivelooping7976]

Session View and Arrangement View can play simultaneously if playing on different tracks! when I start live looping I have an additional Automation Control track, whose clip has predefined automation that is being sent to IAC driver/LoopMidi. It controls volume and some effects during live looping and free my hands.

[@animehindiloveryt]

softs it was really confusing but thanks to you I've gotten more professional at it!! ✌

[@cixo87]

This is the best explanation for live looping! Easily and clearly watched it from Italy, thank you a lot, very helpful

[@343labs]

So glad to hear that you enjoyed it!

[@macshock632]

So inspiring. Thank you for this tutorial. I guess setting it up as you do by splitting the recording from the monitoring you also achieve to minimize latency. Is this correct?

[@christuusgnosis]

Thx. Many yrs ago I used reason 5 and this particular thing is what I have been looking for while learning ableton. I am used to building longer patterns in this layering method but didn't understand how it worked in ableton. Thx a lot. I like the pattern blocks of seq first and then mix over to arrange. Learned much from your vids, this one is great. I have to figure out the rec trigger, I only have a mk2 and just got it, now I covet a pitch wheel... I guess I could trigger it to a knob...

[@TheStephbean]

thank you so much, this is the best explansion ive seen TAETRO, your a fookin star.

[@343labs]

You’re welcome

[@FassinTaak]

First time I've watched this explanation and this could be the one to shift me onto Ableton for good. Awesome!

[@TheIsaac246]

I needed this video so much you don't know all the unnecessary work I was doing to make my songs sound on time

[@343labs]

So glad to hear that!

[@kittycloudz813]

Love this guys content and sound selection and he presents a great workflow...I personally prefer the looper device tho..because in my experiences with performing live its more fun and creative to set global tempo on the fly and not have a metronome or click track..with the looper everything seems more freestyle and fluid..*but its more difficult to set up and easy to make mistakes with the looper device ...tho the undo is available to be mapped and is more sudden then command z or new clip...imo the method he is using is actually better achieved in Bitwig because there’s more ability to customize the clips and there actions..also it has customizable scripts for most controllers .

[@anzatzi]

I'd love to see you explore midi-mapped qwerty keys as supplemental controllers to Novation 'in control' workflows--esp for recording into empty midi clips. Esp qwerty mapping for track focus, rec arming, and session record.

[@robwiebe6486]

I ca back to soft after about 10 years when I was using soft soft 10 and for its best program Ive seen in fact its also simpliest one

[@chrisvanek7877]

Bro. You made abelton finally make sense to me in functionally. Thank you

[@fusionistaaaa]

Is there a way to do that preselected length with audio tracks? I find it hard to play guitars or drums and record buttons at the same time.

[@HurveyJones]

Wow, I just committed to Ableton 2 weeks ago. and I ran across this video! This is great because I'm now using this for my drums. Thank you so much!!

[@cal_blac]

Great tutorial, thank you! There’s a lot of little details with doing this that are important to get right. This is probably the best explanation I’ve come across.

[@343labs]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@L.olivier]

finally the video I was looking for!Thank you so much!!!

[@VANELST]

Love the video. Is there a way we can do the same with audio recording?

[@wildamerican2771]

I really just wish a program could come out that was loop centric and made it super simple.

[@baguette273]

Thank you so much! there are some other videos in this topic, but they all miss a few details. your video was by far the most helpful.

[@AdamFBuchanan]

What about audio? I want to be able to record, loop, AND most of all create overdub/harmony vocals. I want to do this in a live performance. Do I just need to have different clips for each vocal? can I layer clips in the same clip box/slot (whatever it might be called)? IS there an easy intuitive way I'm not thinking about? Also, external looping hardware tempo synced to ableton? any good hardware that can do this? as i assume this may be helpful to take processing off the CPU. Would it?

[@StaaaRzXD]

what about audio clip? Can't you set the duration of your clip in bars ? If not I don't understand, spent money on gear but still can't have such a basic feature... Anybody has a solution for that ? I spent hours but couldn't find anything, this is so frustrating

[@3lackwoodmusic]

I agree. Logic has pre defined length for looping cells. This seems to be missing in Ableton somehow. You shouldn't need to have to hit record again after you perform your loop.

[@MrDewallday]

Hello sir, thank you for this. For this video, how did you record everything? I hope someone can help me.

[@nunalujah]

Quick question..if you're looping live, is there a way to do it without the metronome? Like should you just have a shaker or some type of beat going so that everyone in the audience doesn't hear the metronome?

[@343labs]

Yup! Having a loop that is basically your “time keeper” but is part of the track is a great technique.

[@System8127]

Thanks for the great tut. Is there any way in Ableton you can quantize real-time in a live playing situation? TIA

[@asaphtv2957]

I’m new in Ableton and I’m eager to learn how to perform looping sessions. This is very helpful. Thanks for sharing.

[@jacobbenjamin6184]

Great video. Can the auto loop function be used if tracking with multiple different instruments? Can I loop using a guitar, bass, launch pad, etc, while each track has their own customized plugins? So if I wanted a guitar effect that combined delay, reverb, and wah, a bass with Octaver and fuzz, and a microphone with reverb, could I apply each instrument their own fx and then still loop each instrument triggered by playing? Can all versions of abelton live do this??

[@jarfrobinksss]

Crazy how we need a deep dive detailed 13 min video for such a simple task. Followed this and still at square one..also where the hell did the shaker come from?

[@TIUSLE]

Thanks! I've been searching how to get it and this is brilliant :D

[@yourishaashok6108]

Wow.......That' s so cool. Keep going Sir. TNice tutorials motivtes too.

[@thedaily1701]

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO! Subscribed!!!

[@Ju27879]

THank you, was wondering how those dudes used their controller to go live looping recording one instrument after the other !!

[@dominicdoyle2895]

Another fabulous video sir. So helpful. Thank you so much.

[@sternenherz]

@10:30 is there a way to automate this "empty slot creation with a specific loop length of 1/2/3/4 etc bars" recording technique? I want to get rid of using the mouse, Especially performing live!

[@Vyscera]

Does the oxygen pro mini have similar functionality in ableton? Or is the launchkey better?

[@AntonisGrr]

This is awesome. Thank you brother

[@343labs]

Very welcome

[@JesseFragale]

When you record these videos do you just keep video on for as long as your working in your do and sync in post? Seems like you would need to record video for such a long time (from starting to work on the daw right to the end).

[@Dhayasankariam]

thank you soo much dude , this video helped me a lot,i've been watching a lot of tutorials and thos were not good , they are actually bad , but this video actually says how to do those loops,thank you soo much.

[@343labs]

Glad to hear that! Cheers!

[@zenguy7711]

Excellent, and very helpful!!

[@KeithWilsonUK]

I'd love to work on this and try and record some live breakbeat... recording the bass, guitar and drums before dropping synths etc... I need to give this a go!

[@hamed2011]

Can we change instrument for midi key during the loop playing ? also play loops section with pc keyboard not from launch pad ?

[@GBCACHO]

I dont get it, when I press record on the Session record button, while on an existing clip, I have to hold it in order for it to actually record, if I let go the recording stops. I have a regular controller linked with midi learn to the |O| button. What could be the reason? I want to be able to just press it once like you’re doing at 9:00 . (Note that if the clip slot is empty, it works as intended)

[@stefanleithner6922]

can you make launch timings for midi clips aswell? instead of only for samples?

[@BrendanPatrickHughes]

Taetro is the greatest

[@ashribar]

dude that was so well explained! cheers man

[@macroftStudio]

How are you recording everything? Like talking and music and everything

[@normanvillaresto5756]

Explained in great detail! Thank you so much!!

[@Visualbugtv]

finally! a clear explanation of live, before this video I have no idea of what is this "Live" option in Ableton... ??? for live performance beats and beat making: Do I need to upgrade to the full version "Pro" or is ok with the lite version? I have Novation Launchkey mini mk3 :)

[@343labs]

You will still be able to perform with the Lite version. The full version of Ableton will give you some extra features to make your performance a bit more complex. You can see the differences between all versions of Ableton here: www.ableton.com/en/live/compare-editions/

[@danielhayun304]

1:50 i love it when i search in KZbin how to set up a looper project in Ableton and instead i learn what a downbeat is 😂 jk great video !

[@zephir9119]

Hey! Nice video! Do you think it's possible to do the same, but with a AKAI MPK mini ?

[@tkzic]

Thank you for excellent synopsis of practical live looping methods in Ableton

[@yudismejiacastro9327]

This was so helpful!! Thank you

[@ryanblohm]

Good tutorial! However all of these metronome beats are down beats.. I just wanted to clarify because when it's said "at the next down beat", it could mean any of the following beats. The higher pitch of the click is the start of the bar at one. Its 4/4 so each beat is down at 1, 2, 3, 4.

[@davidreyes1287]

Wow! it's Amazing I did it well ! Perfect work !

[@johnnys.r3440]

BROTHER, YOU ARE THE BEST!!! You oooh really helped me!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

[@Twelve50TV]

That the Dankest Metronome ever !! how did you change it bruh ?

[@TarasLogvin]

Thanks for the explanation, I just wonder: I also have a launchkey but different generation so it doesn't have a record button. In control function let's you press record on each clip, but then you have to switch to normal pads mode and then back to control function to start playback of the clip, it's a nightmare! Any solution for that? I like the idea about pre made clips though!

[@deejae_music]

do you also have tutoroal for ableton lite 12? same midi keyboard

[@jonglassmusic5813]

The concept of creating empty clips so you can set the length before you start is super useful, like you say… especially when you need both hands. But how do you accomplish the same on an audio track? Say I want to play 4 bar guitar loop the same way (without having to use the Looper). I don’t know why Ableton didn’t just make this the same for audio.

[@343labs]

There's no way to pre-create an audio clip in Live, though you can use a Global Quantization setting of 4 bars in the Transport Bar when recording.

[@CanalDaSuka]

When I send the out to speakers, how can I set to get the metronome just for me ? Tks

[@tsoki868]

Extremely concise and helpful, thanks! Gotta say, 8:51, I am appalled that there is no direct way to do this with audio clips. Not even a workaround. I'd like to hit record, have it start recording on the downbeat and automatically loop after 1 bar (or 2, 4, 8...). You have to use a separate device or a controller with that functionality. Insane! Googling it reveals people have been stumped by the lack of this option for years now. Just wow.

[@_trueloveneverdies]

did you find a way to do this with audio clips? i'm still lost on it

[@343labs]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Srk101]

This is very very helpful 🙏🏽 . Thank you sir

[@Sophia-mb4ww]

Omg thank u king, my ADHD ass could never focus on or keep up with other ableton live session view tutorials and u explained this so well :8)

[@343labs]

Thanks for watching!

[@Djtrotsky]

nice thanks. as many have said very few ableton folks teaching session view (loop view, or whatever it's called) thanks!

[@343labs]

You're welcome! If you want know more you can book one of our courses at shop.343labs.com/ learn everything about Ableton.

[@bombeijo]

Hey man! Great video and explanation, appreciate the knowledge! Was wondering if you know if it's possible to delete clips with midi? Thinking for a live setup where you could loop in session view but then delete the clip instead of keep recording new ones when you are moving on to next song? Peace!

[@SeanClarkeMusic]

Really helpful, thanks for taking the time to describe and share!